The Presumptuous Sinner

Dictionary.com defines the word presumptuous as “full of, characterized by, or showing presumption or readiness to presume in conduct or thought.” Simply put, to be presumptuous means to be impertinent, to be bold, or forward.

Let us for a minute take a look at what the Bible says about sin. Before we do that however, I must mention that sin was birth when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in Genesis 3 (you can read more about that here). In John 8:34, Jesus in speaking to the children of Abraham, declares that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. This means that when we sin, we become as salves to the very sin we commit. That is why it is so hard for us to turn away from our wicked ways but be thankful, that we serve a God who is able to deliver us from our unpleasing habits. Also, in 1 John 5:17, we are told that all wrongdoing is sin—all of which can lead to death. By those scriptures we can infer that SIN is something that God takes very seriously; so serious that it can result in the loss of our lives. This is also evident in Romans 6:23 where we are warned that the price for sin is DEATH but the gift of God is eternal life which we obtain though His son, Jesus.

Now that we have looked at sin let us talk about the common misconception about sin and God’s reaction to it.

Here are two common misconceptions:

 

 

When caught in sin, many people’s rebuttal is well I’m human and I am not perfect. Besides, God loves me and will forgive me. These people are right but to an extent.

 

According to Psalm 51:5, 1 Kings 8:46, and 1 John 1:8 we were all born into sin, we are all prone to sin, and we must not act as though we all aren’t sinners. We are NOT perfect but we must aim daily to become more like Christ—who is PERFECT! So yes these people are correct, we are human beings who are prone to sin but we must never use that as our excuse or free ticket to continue living in sin.

 

 

Many people, it seems, believe that because God loves us and is willing to forgive us it is an open invitation for sin.

 

I have heard many people argue that the fact that they sin does not matter because God loves them and Jesus went to the cross for them and so long as this is true and they confess each time before God, they are fine. These people once again, are right but also to an extent. It is true God loves us dearly—so much so, that He allowed His perfect son, Jesus to be crucified so that our sins may be forgiven. But what these people have wrong is their idea of being able to continuously live in sin because of the sacrifice made on the cross. They say “Oh God loves me and He knows my heart, He will not turn away from me because of my sin.” The famous scripture they use to justify this is in Romans 8:35 where it says nothing can separate us from the love of God. What they seem to misconstrue in this scripture is the word LOVE…Yes folks, nothing can take away God’s love from us because His love is unconditional. But this does not mean that we will not be punished for our sins or reap the consequences of our actions. In Isaiah 59:2, it says that, it is our SIN that SEPARATES us from God—not His LOVE but from Him. What this means is that even though God loves us He does not have to hear or answer our prayers.

Imagine a parent who loves their child dearly. Consider that the child is continuously acting out in school and that this is brought to the attention of the parent. See, the child must be punished because he or she has done wrong and knows better. Now the parent still loves the child, in fact the parent loves the child with all of his or her heart but the parent does not have to give the child what he or she wants (toys, money, allow them to go out with friends, etc.) because this child is not deserving of it. This my friend is what we call “tough love.” It is the act of showing or displaying love while being JUST.

 

 

  

Like I said, we all have sinned; we all do sin. We are reminded of this in Romans 3:23. But what makes the difference in all of this, is PRESUMPTION!

So who is the presumptuous sinner?

 

The presumptuous sinner is one who acts deliberately. For example, we will use Betty. Betty is recounting an event to her friends and she finds that while doing this, she is about to lie…she knows in her heart that what she is about to say is a lie and that it is wrong to do so, but she proceeds to tell the lie anyway. Betty tries to rationalize with her conscience by claiming that God will forgive her if she asks to be forgiven. See Betty is not perfect so yes she is prone to sin but what makes her sin presumptuous is the fact that Betty, 1.) knows that lying is a sin, 2.) thinks about the act before she commits it, and 3.) tries to rationalize about it using forgiveness and love.

 

So it is safe to say that the 3 conditions of presumptuous

sin are:

 

    Knowledge of the sin

 

   Thought before sin
 

  Rationalize through forgiveness/love of God

 

Here are some scriptures that speaks about presumptuous or willful sinning:

Hebrews 10:26 :: James 4: 17 :: Psalms 19: 1

 

My friends, I hope you get this: sin is a natural act and there is a cost that was paid for it. However, please also get this: not because it was paid for means that you should abuse it. You don’t purposely get in an accident when driving because you know you’ve paid monthly for insurance, right? We therefore must not take for granted that He loves us and has given His son in sacrifice for our sins. We must commit ourselves daily into walking uprightly before God and living to please Him in all we do. God is a loving and merciful God but He is also a JUST God.

I trust that you were challenged and encouraged by this post and I pray that God will place it on your heart to avoid being a presumptuous sinner.

 

 

Thank you for reading and be blessed!

 

 

Love always,

Nissey M.

 

 

~ The picture(s) used in this post are not my property. I therefore, have no affiliation with the capturing and editing of these photos. The picture(s) are  properly credited to their owner and were taken from google.com ~